Welcome back! Do you think the weather is getting hotter and hotter? Yes, summer is here!
In summer, there is an important tradition for Chinese people: the Dragon Boat festival. The Dragon boat Festival happens on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. During the festival, people eat rice dumplings and row dragon boats. The rice dumplings are delicious and the dragon boat competitions are exciting. Do you know where the Dragon Boat festival came from?
According to legend, the Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate the poet Qu Yuan. Qu Yan was very loyal to his country and the people.However, the king listened to a treacherous court official, so he was banished from the country, Qu Yan was very sad and unhappy, so he jumped into the Miluo river with stone tied to him. The people of the state were very sad when they found so they went to the Miluo river to pay tribute to Qu Yuan. The people rowed boats back and forth in the Miluo river, hoping to find Qu Yan’s body for burial. In order to prevent Qu Yan’s body from being eaten by the fish and shrimp in the river, the people prepared bamboo leaves wrapped in rice and put it into the river for the fish and shrimp to eat. Since then, the act became the tradition of rowing dragon boats and eating rice dumplings, or Zongzi on the Dragon Boat festival.
Another legend of the Dragon Boat festival is the legend of the White Snake. In the Song dynasty, there were two snake spirits who had been practicing for thousands of years, Bai-Suzhen and XiaoQing. One day in a bright spring, the two sisters went down the mountain to play int the West Lake. Suddenly, it rained and they both got wet. Just as they were looking for a place to hide from the rain, a scholar handed over an umbrella. Bai-Suzhen looked at the scholar and felt a familiarity. As it turns out, the scholar had saved her in her previous life.
Bai-Suzhen said: Thank you so much. What is your name?
The scholars answered: “My name is Xu Xian. I live by the lake. You can use this umbrella!”
Bai-Suzhen said: “My name is Bai-Suzhen. She is my sister XiaoQing. We live in Baifu not far from here. If you have time, you can come to my house as a guest.”
After a while of talking to each other, Bai-Suzhen and Xu Xian’s relationship got better and better. Not soon after, they became husband and wife. Bai-Suzhen also helped Xu Xian to open a pharmacy. Xu Xian was a kind person and had excellent medical skills. Many people sought medical treatment from them, and they lived a happy life.
One day, a monk named Fahai who came from Jinshan Temple passed by and saw Xu Xian, who exerted a demonic energy. Later, he found out that Xu Xian’s wife was actually a thousand year old spirit. He said to Xu Xian: “Your wife is a snake demon. If you continue to be together, you will be hurt by her over time.”
Xu Xian said angrily: “My wife is so kind, how could she be a snake demon? And how could she possibly harm me?”
Fahai knew that Xu Xian had a hard time believing what he said, so he told Xu Xian: “If you don’t believe it, give her some regular wine on the Dragon Boat Festival, and then see if she will change back to her original form.”
Upon hearing what Fahai said, Xu Xian thought to himself “I’ll just try it out, if the lady doesn't transform, then the monk is lying.” So, on the Dragon Boat Festival, Xu Xian managed to make Bai-Suzhen drink the wine mixed with realgar. Unexpectedly, Bai-Suzhen really turned into a snake. Xu Xian was so frightened that he fainted, and he has been ill since then.
In order to save Xu Xian, Bai-Suzhen went to Xianshan to steal fairy grass. Monk Fahai thinks that Bai-Suzhen is a snake demon and will always harm people, so he took the opportunity to take Xu Xian to the Jinshan Temple and put him under house arrest. Then, he looked for an opportunity to get rid of the snake demon as Bai-Suzhen and XiaoQing went to Jinshan Temple to rescue Xu Xian.
Bai-Suzhen said to Fahai, "Although I am a snake demon, I have no intention of harming anyone. I just want to live a good life with my husband. Why do you want to break us up?"
Fahai said angrily: "Humans and demons shouldn't be together in the first place, so you and the other snake should go back to the mountain and continue to practice!"
Bai-Suzhen said: “No! I must save my husband today.”
Bai-Suzhen, XiaoQing, and Fahai fought fiercely. In desperation, Bai-Suzhen led the water from the West Lake to flood the Jinshan Temple. In the end, Bai-Suzhen lost her magic power to Fahai, and was covered by Fahai with a golden bowl. The couple was separated.
It is because of this legend that there was the custom of sprinkling realgar to avoid evil spirits on the Dragon Boat Festival. However, realgar is poisonous, so you can't drink it. Even Bai-Suzhen will be poisoned and show her true shape. Some people will hang calamus and wormwood on the door during the Dragon Boat Festival, or wear sachets, all of which can help avoid bad luck!
There are many mosquitoes in summer, and it is easy to breed diseases, so everyone should pay more attention. Children should wash their hands and disinfect more, pay attention to hygiene, and then the virus can be driven away. I hope everyone stays safe during this festival! See you next time!
The Lantern festival-“Shang Yuan Festival (上元節)” 英文版
Happy New Year to everyone! I wish everyone had fun spending time with your family. After the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival comes next. The Lantern festival is on the 15th day of the first lunar month. It is the night of the first full moon of the year and the beginning of the yuan, the night when the Earth returns to Spring. This is why the people will celebrate it, and it is also a continuation of the New Year celebration.
The Lantern festival is also known as “Shang Yuan Festival (上元節)”. According to Chinese folk traditions, on this night, when the bright moon is high in the sky, people will light thousands of colorful lanterns, set off fireworks, go out to enjoy lanterns, carry lanterns, guess lantern rides, and reunite the whole family and celebrate the festival together. But why do people hang lanterns and set off fireworks during the Lantern festival? Let’s hear the story about the legend of the Lantern festival.
The story starts from a long, long time ago. There was a Jade Emperor in the sky, who was the biggest king of the sly. He kept a beautiful bird that he loved very very much. But one day, the bird lost its way because of it’s playfulness. It flew around aimlessly, over the mountains and over the sea. Finally, it was so tired, it landed in the human world. A hunter saw the bird and shouted “Wow! I’ve never seen such a beautiful bird before! I’ll shoot it down with a bow and arrow, and let everyone see it.” So, the hunter picked up his bow and shot the bird to death.
When the Jade Emperor found out about this, he was very angry. “How dare he! To shoot my beloved bird to death, this human hunter doesn’t know what’s coming his way. To think that I take care of human lives everyday. I let them eat well and dress warmly, let the world have good weather and good harvests. I didn’t expect them to do such a thing. I must punish them and set the world on fire! Burn everything down!”
The Jade Emperor’s daughter was a very kind princess. When she heard about this, she felt that the consequences would be unimaginable. She pleaded with the Jade Emperor: “Father, please calm down! The hunter didn’t know it was your bird. The humans are innocent! Please show mercy and don’t do this!” Although the princess was right, the Jade Emperor could not swallow his anger, so he decided to wait until the 15th day of the first lunar month to set the world on fire.
The princess could not bear for the humans to suffer such a big disaster, so she risked her life and secretly went down to the human world to warn the people. After hearing the news, everyone was so frightened, but they didn’t know what to do. After discussing it for a long time, they couldn’t think of a solution. At this time, an old man said: “How about this? During the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth days of the first lunar month, we hang big red lanterns at home, light firecrackers and set off fireworks. This way, the Emperor would think that the Earth was already burning, so he would not send anyone to set it on fire.” After listening to this idea, everyone thought it was very good and they all agreed. Then, everyone began to prepare for it.
On the night of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Heavenly solders and generals were going to set fire to the human world. They looked at the human world and found that the entire Earth was covered in red light and said “Jade Emperor, the world is already burning with a fire, so we don’t need to set fire to it anymore.”
In the end, the people saved their lives and houses, so every year on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, every household would hang lanterns to commemorate peace.
This is the story of the origin of hanging lanterns and lighting fireworks during the Lantern festival. Now, during Lantern festivals, there are many activities related to lanterns. Especially in Taiwan, they hold a grand Taiwan Lantern festival with all kinds of large-scale lanterns that are very beautiful. Childrens and adults can all go together to enjoy the lights and take beautiful photos!
Wasn’t that an interesting story! We’ll see you next time, have a good holiday!
Hello everyone, welcome back to the series Stories about the 24 Solar Terms.
Today, we will be talking about the winter solstice. It is the time when the night is the longest and the day is the shortest. Did you notice that in December, when school ends, it’s already pitch black outside? This means that the sun sets early, so the day is much shorter than before. After the winter solstice, the day will get longer and longer and the night will get shorter and shorter. Talking about the winter solstice, everyone thinks about eating tang yuan right? But how did the tradition start? Let’s hear the story.
Hello everyone! It’s finally time for another story!
Have you ever been to a wedding? Does everyone know that when two people are in love, they have a wedding to announce it to everyone. A wedding is essentially a party, to eat good foods and celebrate the binding of two! In eastern culture, weddings are not something to take light of. From the beginning, when the parents of the couple meet for the first time, there are traditions to propose the marriage in specific formats. At times, people find these traditions to be a hassle and as a result, people only have weddings once.
In Taiwan, pastries have always been a gourmet product in the trend of the times, and they also symbolize the history and trajectory of each era. In traditional weddings, there are large and small wedding customs, and traditional Chinese wedding cakes given to relatives and friends are also one of them. Why is there the origin of giving traditional wedding cakes?
Let me introduce a story originating from the Three Kingdoms.
Hello everyone, welcome back to the series Stories about the 24 Solar Terms.
This episode will be about the mid-autumn festival, or moon festival, that happens once a year in September when the moon is the roundest. In this festival, people eat moon cake and pears with their families while appreciating the moon. During this time, the elders will tell stories to the children, and the younger generations talk about the year past and remaining.
Today, we will be telling you the story of Chang'e Flying to the Moon.